Carol Joseph slapped with 14 fraud charges by SOCU

People’s National Congress (PNC) activist Carol Smith-Joseph of Lot 99 Main Street, Hopetown, West Coast Berbice (WCB), was on Wednesday charged by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) with 14 indictable charges of Fraudulent Appropriation of Property of Body Corporate committed on the Mahaica Abary Rice Development Scheme (MARDS).
She appeared at the Mahaicony Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Marissa Mittleholzer and the charges were read to her.
However, she was not required to plead and was granted bail in the sum of $10,000 per charge, for a total sum of $140,000. She was represented by Attorneys-at-Law Nigel Hughes and Roysdale Forde.
The cases were adjourned to January 11, 2023 for statements and June 7, 2023 for Preliminary Inquiry to commence.
During the month of March 2022, a report was made to SOCU by the MARDS Rice Milling Complex Limited, a private company registered under the Companies Act, Chapter 89:01, concerning fraudulent appropriation of funds of that company by Joseph, who was a Director of that company at the time.
As a result of that report, SOCU commenced investigations. During the course of the investigations, it was revealed that Joseph was appointed as a Director of MARDS between the period July 2015 and June 2018 by the then Minister of State of Guyana.
SOCU said Joseph, as a Director on the Board, without authority, solely approved 14 transactions amounting to G$6,121,108 without the Board’s knowledge and approval between June 2016 and August 2016.
The Board makes all the policy decisions of MARDS and the duty to execute the Board’s decisions belongs to the MARDS General Manager.
Whenever payments have to be made to any suppliers or if MARDS has to do any financial transaction, approval must be given by the Board. Based on the Board’s decisions to pay, the General Manager would cause the payment to be processed by his staff and two authorised signatories of MARDS must sign a cheque of payment so that it can be encashed at Republic Bank, where MARDS has a bank account.
The amounts were allegedly used for Smith-Joseph’s personal benefit and other purposes other than MARDS’s business. These activities were in no way associated with MARDS Rice Milling Complex.
In October 2020, Smith-Joseph appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts for several charges in relation to electoral fraud following the March 2, 2020 elections.
She was arraigned on one count of forgery and two counts of conspiracy to defraud at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts and was placed on $30,000 bail for each charge.
Smith-Joseph was charged jointly with embattled former Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo for forgery. She was released on $30,000 bail for each charge.